Ennis on brink of defeat at World C'ships

Ennis on brink of defeat at World C'ships

Britain's miserable world athletics championships took another nosedive on Tuesday when world champion Jessica Ennis struggled further in the heptathlon and now looks certain to lose her title in the evening session.

These gripping Daegu Games have been shaped so far by high drama and disqualifications, but finally athletic performance was the focus -- though for Ennis it was not the performance she wanted.

Three poor javelin throws where she never got beyond 40 metres left the British athlete trailing Tatyana Chernova with only the 800 metres to go this evening.

The Russian hurled the javelin 52.95m on a steamy Korean morning and now leads by 5,887 points to 5,754.

Image: Jessica Ennis of Great Britain reacts during the javelin throw in the women's heptathlon on TuesdayPhotographs: Getty Images

Isinbayeva has to overcome 'curse of the cover'

On successive nights, the world's fastest man Usain Bolt and then 110 metres hurdles world record holder Dayron Robles were disqualified from competition amid dramatic scenes.

Bolt for bursting early from the blocks in the final, not even getting to run the blue riband race. Robles briefly held gold before he was stripped of it for bumping rival Liu Xiang along the running track in a physical tussle on Monday.

Tuesday night sees more giants of track and field take centre stage as competition approaches the midway point.

Pole vault queen Yelena Isinbayeva enters the action looking to recover the title she won in 2005 and 2007 before losing it two years ago.

To do so, however, she will need to overcome what is being dubbed the "curse of the cover".